Dokan Karate Club

After the initial disappointment that over ten of my regular and high quality students weren’t going to compete the entries flowed in steadily but slowly. By the time the day arrived we had 127 students competing at the event.

This is actually a very respectful tally and was boosted by 37 students from other clubs most notably Shungou and Toukon (thank you for your support). The fact we pulled 90 Dokan students indicates how well my beginner clubs are doing at the minute.

We scrapped plans for a mini display as I was keen to get things moving and the centre are quite stringent on us leaving the building by 5.00pm. Plus we had more categories than ever now and had included for the first time kickmaster kumite. So four areas were created and they ran till kickmaster ended then we dropped to three areas to get the day finished by 4.00.

The standard in most sections was excellent which is what you expect from one of the UK’s top junior karate clubs and I hope the refereeing was fair. We hired in seven British referees and were helped out by a couple of junior referees. Personally, I get to watch little of the day as I am so busy and very stressed keeping things moving. The weeks of preparations and hassle seem too much for what the day returns until the evening comes and the happy texts and facebook posts come through. Then perhaps you think it was worthwhile after all.

The referees and visiting coaches all seemed pleased with the day and there was a lot of comments on how relaxed the whole day was.

Thank you to everyone who gave up their time to man the tables and help me set up. I am lucky to have such a loyal and brilliant team of helpers. Our competition no longer looks like an "in-club". With proper referees and four areas to add to our top standards it is as good as many larger external comps.